"If you don’t put on that dress, Clara, I will make sure you never walk out of this basement alive."My mother’s voice was like ice poured directly down my spine. She didn't call me her daughter. She hadn't used that word for me in eighteen years. To Eleanor Montgomery, I was just a ghost, an unfortunate mistake, a curse that had blighted her life the moment I breathed my first breath.I huddled on the cold concrete floor of the storage cellar, rubbing my bruised wrists. The sharp smell of damp mold mixed with the sickeningly sweet scent of expensive white lilies."Please, Mother," I whispered, my voice raw and cracking. "Evelyn is the one engaged to him. I’m not even allowed to be seen in public. How can you ask me to do this?"A sharp slap cracked across my face. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning with a familiar, blistering heat."Don't you dare speak her name with your filthy mouth!" my father, Richard Montgomery, barked from the doorway. He stepped into the dim light,
Last Updated : 2026-08-03
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